Tag: Stipe Miocic

It’s funny what they say about headlines that end in a question mark. Most of the time the answer to the proposed question will be no and in this case that tends to be my initial gut reaction. But that doesn’t mean that this is a topic that is without merit or one that shouldn’t be explored. In fact, it makes researching and finding the evidence for or against all the more intriguing. So let’s take a moment to really consider whether or not Stipe Miocic deserves the title of the greatest heavyweight the UFC has ever seen.

Finally we’re breaking down the main event of UFC 211 and it’s a doozy. The first battle between Stipe Miocic and Junior do Santos was a brutal slugfest that saw both men trading blows for five rounds. It was thoroughly entertaining and horrifying to watch. There’s only so much damage the brain can take after all and as such I see the champion and former champion taking a very different approach heading into this rematch. With everything on the line, you can bet both men are going to perform far differently than they did in their first meeting.

So UFC 203 was pretty crazy. No, not the Mickey Gall domination of CM Punk, that played out pretty much how many had predicted. No, what was crazy was all the chaos in the final two fights of the night. For my money the heavyweight division is perhaps the least interesting weight class in combat sports. Sure, the big guys can produce some pretty devastating knock outs and moments straight out of a Rocky movie, but it’s usually at the expense of clean technique. With that said, the final two fights of the night produced the most fireworks on the main card.

On the Eve of the UFC 203 card, I’m excited. There are a bunch of close matchups here and if you’re a betting man (or woman), good luck making heads or tails of how it’s going to play out this saturday. But before they get down and dirty there’s one more technicality, the weigh ins.

We’ve talked a lot this week about CM Punk and his chances of picking up a UFC victory over the fellow inexperienced Mickey Gall. In reality no one knows exactly what’s going to happen in that fight, making a breakdown impossible. Besides, there’s bigger fish to fry as the main event features two heavy hitters in the heavyweight division. Stipe Miocic versus Alistair Overeem should be a damn good fight, one that’s most likely to produce a vicious knock out.

(“Hey Fabricio, it’s me Dan. I know this probably isn’t the time to tell you this, but you really dun f*cked up, kid.”via Getty)

Fabricio Werdum may have only been a -185 favorite heading into his UFC 198 title tilt with Stipe Miocic on Saturday, but the consensus across the board seemed to be that he would either utilize his vastly-improved striking skills to put away his Cleveland-born opponent on the feet or take him to the mat and submit him using his world-renowned Jiu Jitsu. This was the man who defeated Cain Velasquez, after all, and was hoping to kickstart his legacy as “the greatest heavyweight of all time” with a big win in front of 45,000 Brazilian fans.

The Fabricio Werdum that actually showed up at UFC 198, however, could not have looked further from the greatness he so desired. Chalk it up to blind confidence or whatever you will, but “Vai Cavalo” — a man who has not only submitted 3 of the greatest heavyweights of all time, but dominated the likes of Mark Hunt and Travis Browne in recent appearances — appeared to temporarily lose complete control of both his body and mind on Saturday night. It was quite possibly the most mind-blowingly stupid performance since Koji Oishi tried to block Nick Diaz’s punches with punches, and the result was a new champion who was all but handed the belt on a silver platter.

You might not know this about Cain Velasquez, but the former heavyweight champion is what some would call “prone to injury.” In fact, Velasquez has spent far more time on the shelf during his tenure with the UFC than he has been fighting, competing just 6 times (and against a grand total of 3 different opponents) dating back to the night he first lost his belt to Junior Dos Santos in 2010.

So when it was first announced that Velasquez would inexplicably be receiving an immediate rematch against Fabricio Werdum following his one-sided defeat at UFC 188, the booking was met with a certain amount of trepidation. Rightfully so, it would seem, as today brings the news that Velasquez has has been forced to withdraw from UFC 196 just two weeks out with a back injury.

We can debate the decision that capped off UFC 195′s welterweight title fight between Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit all we want. We can take to Twitter to vent our frustrations with an (admittedly) outdated judging system until the cows come home. In fact, we have been for years, but with no change in sight, it’s probably best that we just focus on the latest in what has been an incredible series of title fights for the UFC, and that’s exactly what Lawler vs. Condit was.

(It was at that point that the once bloodthirsty Adelaide crowd, draped in tattered shawls and dirtied robes, began to cry out for mercy. via Getty)

We’ve had the discussion a million times over. Probably more. When a fighter loses the ability to protect himself — whether out of stubbornness, pride, stupidity, or some combination of the three — it falls upon the referee, or his cornerman, or the ringside physician, to do it for him. “A fighter is his own worst enemy,” we so often say, cheaply dismissing a much bigger issue that impacts all combat sports while doing next to nothing to ensure that these fighters can actually be saved from themselves.

Fight Night 65 was, if nothing else, a continuation of our cultural apathy for fighter safety, gently tucked beneath a guise of momentary outrage and Twitter rants. It was the kind of card that would’ve made Matt Saccaro dismiss us all as purveyors of a barbaric bloodsport wherein the costs highly outweigh the gains, were he still covering MMA. (Thankfully, a former governor surfaced to pick up his scraps.)

Before the main card action was underway this past Saturday night, we had a pretty eventful weekend already.

The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale saw a new women’s strawweight champion crowned, as Carla Esparza submitted Rose Namajunas in the final, after a string of pretty decent fights.

Then came UFC on FOX 13, headlined by a heavyweight fight featuring Junior dos Santos against Stipe Miocic. The prelims were strange but sufficient, Henry Cejudo winning his debut, younger-than-he-looks Joe Riggs suffering an injury in his Bellator superfight against Ben Saunders, John Moraga being dropped by Willie Gates after complaining about a low blow to the official, last-minute food poisoning for Derek Brunson, Jamie Varner retiring after a loss with hopes of starting a fighter union, Ryan Jimmo’s terrible seats, Phil Baroni’s shlong, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk outpointing Claudia Gadelha (who pulled a Paul Daley in the heat of the moment, but apologized right away) to go on to face Esparza in the near future.